24F, I’m going to try out 16:8 IF, but because of school and work, I can only do the following timings:
• mon, thurs, fri 11am-7pm
• tues, wed 8am-4pm
• weekends 9am-5pm
Will this still work? Or does it have to be at consistent timings everyday? Thanks so much:)
I was kind of in and out of 16/8 IFs, now back at it, what I would say is that relatively consistent timing makes it a bit easier for your body as it would over time adjust to this new eating window. Your “windows” imo are still ok, because they’re within 1-2 hours of each other, so should be fine.
Totally fine.
Don’t over-complicate this. Just accept that you will maintain your 16 hour fasting window as inviolable and adjust the rest of your schedule accordingly.
Example: Had some popcorn while watching movies on the couch last night at 9:00 PM? Guess what? That pushes the start of today’s eating window back to 1:00 PM….AND THAT’S OKAY!!!
As mentioned in other comments, a consistent schedule can be nice because it can help your body get used to the fasts (especially longer fasts, if you go down that road). But, the great thing about IF is its inherent flexibility - MOST people can make it work with their lives without too many mental gymnastics or weird food plans.
In the end, as long as you don’t go completely off the rails, minor adjustments to your schedule are totally fine.
Just so We are clear on your fasting schedule
Sunday - stop eating at 5pm
Monday - start eating at 11am (18 hour fast)
Monday - stop eating at 7pm (8hour eating window)
Tuesday - start eating at 8am (13 hour fast)
Tuesday - stop eating at 4pm - (8 hour eat)
Wednesday - 8am (16hr fast)
Wednesday - 4pm (8hr eat)
Thursday - 11am (19hr fast)
Thursday - 7pm (8hr eat)
Friday - 9am (14hr fast)
Friday - 5pm (8hr eat)
Saturday - 9am (16hr fast)
Saturday - 5pm (8hr eat)
Sunday - 9am (16hr fast)
It is more important that you keep your fasting times consistent rather than trying to make your eating window consistent.
Monday - start eating at 9am = 16hr fast
Tuesday - start eating at 11am = 16hr fast
Thursday - start eating at 8am = 16hr fast
Friday - start eating at 11am = 16hr fast
small adjustments to your schedule but this will allow your body to get use to being without food instead of jumping around each day. However, once you get familiar with fasting you can start doing longer ones - however, you should be shortening your eating window to accommodate for the following days 16 hour fast.